'GHQ attack result of Pak Army's failure to launch offensive in South Waziristan' India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

A former top Pakistani police official has said Saturday's ghastly terror strike on the Army General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was a result of the failure of the security forces to counter the extremists in South Waziristan effectively. Arbab Hidayatullah, an expert of national security, said the GHQ attack had occurred because the Pakistan military had given a free hand to the extremists. "The attack had occurred because the military had so far failed to deliver 'the mother of all battles' in South Waziristan, giving the terrorists a free hand to deliver themselves," The New York Times quoted Hidayatullah, as saying. The Pakistan Army had announced few days ago that it is planning a major offensive in South Waziristan, the Taliban's stronghold. According to Brigadier Mehmood Shah, a retired senior Army official, the newly appointed Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, through the recent terror attacks in Peshawar and Rawalpindi has made it clear that the Taliban would offer a stiff resistance in South Waziristan, if an offensive is launched there.